Pinning Inspiration #24

This week, I'd planned to write about a person for Pinning Inspiration (well, it has been a little while!)
But I'm feeling tired and non-wordy, so this week's Pinning Inspiration theme is amazing headdresses (something I've pinned a lot of, recently!)

Here goes...



This one is just plain stunning. Oh to have $200 and a place to wear it!

Marvellous Monday #34

Happy Monday! Are you all geared up and ready for the week ahead?
Whether you are or not, here is this week's Marvellous Monday, with a fresh installment of cute animals!

Repeat after me: "Awww!"

Nap Time

Lazy Last Minute Clown Ruff

Previously, I posted a tutorial for a clown/pierrot ruff. It works pretty well, but is also pretty damn time consuming—it takes a good day or more!

This one is much faster. I’m talking of less than an hour to make. Maybe only ten minutes!

It won't look as good, but this is more of a last-minute party costume piece. It is made using string and crepe paper, staples of my childhood fancy dress costumes :)

Pinning Inspiration #23

Continuing on from recent themes, this week's Pinning Inspiration looks at religious interiors.

 

Places of worship are full of beautiful decoration--and inspiration!
Religious places may make use of stained glass to depict scenes from holy texts and create shows of awe-inspiring coloured light to remind worshippers of the power of their deity.

Marvellous Monday #33

Are you having a good monday? Today, Marvellous Monday's theme is blue.

Blue can be both warm and cool: the sea on a hot summer's day...

Pinning Inspiration #22

Last week's Pinning Inspiration was about details. This week I'm looking at the opposite end of the scale: simplicity.




To me, simplicity does not mean 'complete lack of detail'. Simplicity is about finding the naturally occuring details, lines and imperfection (though 'perfection' is a matter of taste).

Marvellous Monday #32

Are you ready for another Marvellous Monday? This week, Marvellous Monday is about everything autumnal.

Though the days are becoming shorter and cooler, the autumn brings with it vibrant and warm shades of orange, red and yellow...

Costume Bits! (Tutorial Roundup)

Halloween is lurking ever closer!
Whilst I have no full costume tutorials on this blog, I do have a few posts on 'costume bits': those little accessories that finish off a costume.

Here's a quick roundup of the pieces you'll find at Unfortunately Oh!

DIY Ruff | Customised Top Hat

Witch Fingers Tiara | Jabot with Neckband

Elasticated Jabot | Square Eyepatch | No-Sew Pirate Eyepatch

Hope you find something here to help or inspire you with your Halloween preparations! :D

Pinning Inspiration #21

Do you notice the details in the things you see?
This week's Pinning Inspiration looks at just that!

I think that details can make a huge difference, whether they're on a garment, a piece of artwork, something for your home, or a part of nature. Those details could be small or intricate or flamboyant and big and colourful.

 

I love the coils of wire used in the 'window garden' picture, for example. They slightly imitate the curved leaves of the plants and add extra interest to an otherwise plain piece of wire. This is only a small added detail, but is very effective!

Marvellous Monday #31

Are you having a happy monday?
This week, Marvellous Monday returns to its roots with the same theme as the very first Marvellous Monday: pareidolia!

Happy switch is happy.

D.V.

Another book post!

This time, the book I want to write about is D.V. by Diana Vreeland

It is the autobiography of am inspirational and fashion-forward woman who can place being fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar and editor in chief of Vogue (US editions) among her accomplishments.

There’s no back-cover blurb to this, instead it’s on the back and front flap, and quite long, so here’s a small section of it:

“Peppering her glittering stories with knowing (and often outrageous) pronouncements, she ranges wide—from geishas to the incomparable art of Balenciaga, the genius of great servants, and her own reason for being absolutely certain that Chanel and the Duke of Windsor had once had “the romance of the world.”

[…]

Whatever her subject, you want her never to stop. Hers is a memoir like no other, and reading it is a pure pleasure.”

What drew me to read this book: Honestly? It featured in a couple of scenes in one of my favourite films, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.

As a result I wanted to read it, and managed to find it on Amazon Marketplace for £3.50 including postage from Pennsylvania, USA. (I then promptly forgot about it, and had a nice surprise when it landed on the doormat a few weeks later!)

The first line in this book is “I loathe nostalgia.”

An autobiography that begins with a statement like that is bound to be a good one.

Though set in a bygone era, Diana’s narrative style brings such life and colour to her anecdotes that it’s as if everything happened yesterday. The book comes across as though she is writing to you as an old friend and bringing you up to speed on some of the adventures you missed out on hearing about the first time. I enjoyed this aspect of the book; sometimes autobiographies are written in such a remote way that they seem impersonal. D.V. gives the impression that you could sit down with Diana upon your first meeting, but talk as though you’ve known each other forever.

I felt that I learnt from this book, too. The fact that Diana was a ‘lady of leisure’ until age 30 makes me feel less insecure about the fact I’ve reached my late twenties without anything much to show for myself, achievement/career-wise. (So thanks for that, Diana.)

That aside, Diana’s stories encourage us to be more daring in our own lives, to live for the moment, live in the moment and soak up all the things that happen to us! 

Some quotes:

“To this day, anything physical or strange…I can usually pass it off by saying it was a very healthy experience.”

“But I think when you’re young you should be a lot with yourself and your sufferings. Then one day you get out where the sun shines and the rain rains and the snow snows, and it all comes together.”

“But don’t think you were born too late. Everyone has that illusion. But you aren’t. The only problem is if you think too late.”

“Everything is new. At least everything is new the first time around.”

“[…] nothing was frightening to me. It was all part of the great adventure […]”

The TLDR: Autobiography wherein a nostalgia-loathing fashionista brings her bygone era back to life.

Pinning Inspiration #20

As a break from the last two decor-themed Pinning Inspiration posts, this week Pinning Inspiration focuses on India's Gulabi Gang.




You might have already heard of the Gulabi Gang through the film of the same name. On their official website, they define themselves as:

Rural women in pink saris, wielding bamboo sticks in pursuit of social justice

They are essentially a large group of pink-sari-wearing, stick-wielding, female vigilantes who aim to curb violence against women. Which is damn awesome. 

The Gulabi Gang began when Sampat Pal Devi (founder) witnessed a man beating his wife. Everybody else tried to pretend it wasn't happening, but Sampat Pal couldn't stand the sound of the woman's cries. She petitioned the man to stop, but instead he beat her too. The following day, Sampat Pal Devi returned with five other women and a big stick, and they kicked the guy's butt! 

The news of this spread quickly and women began to come forward to ask Sampat Pal Devi to make more interventions--and also to join her team. She soon realised that the group needed a uniform and a name, and so the Gulabi Gang was born, with their uniform of a distinctive pink sari.

Sampat Pal taught her 'sisters' to fight. They continue to intervene in cases of domestic abuse and also protest women's issues. They have stopped a number of child marriages, protest against dowry and female illiteracy, and have forced the police to register cases of domestic violence.

Their work is not all about beating abusive men. On their website, their mission reveals that they aim to help women improve their basic skills, become economically secure, and develop confidence to stand against abuse. So basically, they are supporting women in getting one step closer to equality.

Since the formation of the Gulabi Gang, many other centres for the sisterhood have sprung up across India.


Official Website of Sampat Pal Devi - lots more information here :)